Barrett Firearms(the 50BMG guys) develop a bolt action

[danno50]

Read an article in the latest issue of American Hunter on Barrett's latest offering and thought I'd share it, but couldn't find the digital version. Since their not known for bolt actions, I wonder which markets they will try to infiltrate to get recognition. I felt the rifle had a few features that were suspect, not bad just suspect, its offered in std. calibers and comes in at 5 lbs. total weight.(real ultra light weight) The link is pretty thorough:
https://barrett.net/firearms/fieldcraft/

[dubyam]

Looks like a clone of the NULA/Forbes concept to me, though not an exact copy of the action. I'm curious as to which features you find suspect, Dan.

I'd also like to see where street pricing is on these. I suspect they will be in line with Mark V pricing if not slightly north of it. There are a new crop of expensive ($1800 and up) bolt guns from manufacturers like Seekins, Fierce, and others, which appear to be going after the Nosler rifle market. I'm not keen to pay that kind of money for a production gun (even a semi-custom production gun) when I could go to half a dozen good gunsmith and build exactly what I want for the same or less money, or go to a company like Weatherby or Bergara and buy 99.999% or better of what these rifles are at lower prices. But somebody must be buying these things. I don't know where the average guy gets $2k for a rifle (and another $1k for optics) these days. I make decent money but if I were spending $2800-3000 on a rifle, it would most certainly be either a full custom or a Mark V.

[danno50]

When Barrett bought out Forbes rifles, they also acquired their concept, so you are correct about the clone effect. Dub, maybe suspect wasn't quite the word to use, maybe a couple of handicaps possibly for some people. Their sear design prevents the change of triggers designed for other rifles, not being able to shorten the length of pull( affects people who aren't tall or youths wanting to shoot the lighter calibers)barrel contour is lighter than #0 contour for short action 21” barrels, which may cause barrel heat to affect accuracy if enough time for cooling between shots isn't observed.(thats any UL) Their aggressive twist rates are optimized for long/heavy boat tail bullets, usually the lighter bullets are no problem, but with that aggressive twist I'm thinking hand loaders will have a better shot at getting good accuracy than with factory ammo. They don't mention anything about their recoil system, so even with a 16 ounce scope mounted on top, the recoil per caliber will naturally increase. OK, most of these things are kinda nit picking, but that was my first impression, so don't crucify me for it. For the most part the "Fieldcraft" is a very well put together semi custom rifle, and I agree with you about the price Dub, I'd sooner have a Mark V or a custom build if I was gonna spend that kind of money. Regards

[dubyam]

I didn't realize they'd bought Forbes. The Forbes production rifle was a great idea, poorly executed (twice!). I have a Colt Light Rifle, and it is nothing short of spectacular. But for $150p, I can do better than the Forbes, and I'm confident I can do better than the Barrett, no offense to Forbes or Barrett. With $1500-is as a budget, I could shop hard and find a ULW Weatherby in a standard or magum chambering, and be very well served with no risk of parts replacement issues downrange.

The singular complaint I have about Weatherby rifles, aside from not owning more of them, is the lack of trigger over travel stop. That's also nit-picking, considering I've shot nearly a dozen sub .3MOA groups with my 270Wby, indictating the over travel isn't a real handicap.